A senior Tirana Tax official has fallen into the Special Prosecution's net as a key person in the money laundering scheme generated by the monstrous corruption at the National Agency for the Protection of the Economy.
Aurel Cenolli, who served as director at the Tirana Tax Directorate, turned out to be helping businessman Andis Papa launder corruption money by issuing 10 million euros in fictitious invoices for the purchase of chocolates and cookies to the Mega Distribution company of Bedri and Rogert Rrytas.
Andis Papa, owner of Fastech
Cenolli's role in the money laundering scheme emerged from the testimony of an accountant named Arlinda Meko, who legalized the fictitious transactions.
According to testimony published by Weblab, Meko testified in SPAK that the transfer of invoices was requested by Andis Papa, Ermal Beqiri and Aurel Cenolli.
Excerpt from Meko's testimony at SPAK
From the Minutes dated 19.01.2025 for obtaining data from the person who has knowledge of the criminal offense, it results that Ms. Arlinda Meko stated, among other things, that she worked with the accounting of the company Megadistribution sh.pk, indicating that she is aware of the invoicing between the company Megadistribution sh.pk with Fastech sh.pk and Soft & Solution sh.pk, explaining that Mr. Andis Papa came to her office with Mr. Aurel Cenolli (Director at the Tirana Regional Tax Directorate) and that they asked her to make purchases of products from the company Megadistribution sh.pk and that the purchases would not be made by exchanging goods but by invoicing Megadistribution sh.pk to the company Fastech sh.pk.
She explains that Fastech sh.pk's interest was to increase the company's expenses through these purchases in order to tax the profits that this company received from its activity as much as possible through increased expenses and that on the other hand Megadistribution sh.pk had an interest that sales without invoices on the market would be covered by sales of these fiscal invoices and that in this way it would be balanced with the entity's imports. She explains that this was discussed between Mr. Bedri Rryta and Mr. Andis Papa.
From the Minutes dated 20.01.2025 on the statements of the person against whom the investigation is being conducted, in the presence of the defense attorney, Ms. Arlinda Meko stated that she does not remember Ms. Arjola Koromani coming to the office and that the invoices were issued in the name of the company Soft & Solution and that she thinks that the name of this entity was given to her by Mr. Andis Papa, indicating that there were also debates about the manner of declaring some invoices with Ms. Koromani.
Ms. Meko further states that Mr. Ermal Beqiri and Mr. Andis Papa later met with Mr. Bedri Rryta and that she was also present, as the latter requested it. She explains that they had complained to Mr. Bedri Rryta that they did not want to work with Ms. Meko and that they wanted to work directly with Mr. Rryta.
Neither the latter nor Ms. Meko, she says, have ever received any benefits from them. Mr. Rryta, she says, later told her that he would only work with Mr. Andis Papa and that he did not want to see Mr. Ermal Beqiri at all.
Editorial
